Science and TechnologyWritten evidence submitted by the Design Council

Background

1. The Design Council is an enterprising charity. We enable people to use design to transform communities, business and the environment for the better. Our work places design at the heart of creating value by stimulating innovation in business and public services, improving our built environment and tackling complex social issues. We have long worked with schools, colleges and universities—delivering design-led multidisciplinary projects which promote the use of design—and with industry to support development of professional skills. We generate income through our programmes and services as well as receiving grants from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Summary

2. Design processes and design skills are an integral part of the engineering ecosystem. User-centered design innovation increases the commercial viability of our engineering outputs by making products and services better fit the needs of users and discovering new unfulfilled needs—design is therefore a fundamental part of the engineering sector. Engineering requires a broad base of skills—practical, technical and academic. Design & Technology (D&T) is the only curriculum subject that can deliver these in an applied way—whilst encompassing relevant knowledge and skills for engineering careers.

3. Therefore, the most important driver for enhancing the engineering skills base should be firstly to ensure D&T remains in the National Curriculum through to the end of Key Stage 3. If the subject is secured we then need to develop a revised and streamlined programme of study jointly across the design and engineering communities, supported by non-statutory guidance for schools, supported by increased investment in professional development for teachers and stronger links with industry. (A set of fundamental principles for Design & Technology is provided in Appendix A which we have prepared in conjunction with a wide range of partners.)

Introduction

4. The Design Council welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Science and Technology Committee inquiry and our comments draw on evidence from both our programmes and our year-long inquiry in 2011 into design education and growth as part of the Design Commission. Our evidence specifically covers:

The extent to which the current engineering skills base meets the needs of employers and whether they prefer an academic or vocational profile.

Impact of recent changes to engineering qualifications in England on uptake of technical subjects and henceforth impact on the skills base required by the engineering sector.

How the Government and others could do more to raise the status of technical subjects.

What more can be done to attract and retain a more diverse technically skilled workforce.

5. Sir George Cox, former Design Council Chairman, described design in The Cox Review as that which “links creativity and innovation. It shapes ideas to become practical and attractive propositions for users or customers. Design may be described as creativity deployed to a specific end.” 1

6. Design processes and design skills are an integral part of the engineering ecosystem. The discipline of Engineering Design is a multi-step process that includes research, conceptualization, feasibility assessment, establishing design requirements, preliminary design, detailed design, production planning and tool design, and production.2

7. As evidenced by our own work3 and recognised by the European Commission—companies that invest in design tend to be more innovative, more profitable and grow faster than those who do not.4 User-centered design innovation increases the commercial viability of our engineering outputs—design is therefore a fundamental part of the engineering sector and the bedrock of engineering skills.

8. The UK’s leading engineering/manufacturing sectors of high tech, aerospace, energy, automotive, chemical and food production rely on engineering design, design skills and other design disciplines to develop ideas pre-production and to successfully take products to market. . These include interaction design, system design, automotive design, sustainable design, retail design, product design, service design, graphic design.

9. The position of Design & Technology as a foundation subject in the National Curriculum Review is the underpinning for the supply and development of these skills. As part of the National Curriculum Review this is now at risk in the secondary education sector and we urge the committee to request the Secretary of State for Education secures the position of Design & Technology within the Secondary curriculum.

Does the current engineering skills base meet the needs of employers?

10. The engineering sector requires a range of skills sets across a range of job roles—many of which are not yet realised or known. Therefore the skills base for engineering, whilst requiring a solid grounding in mathematics and physics, necessitates a range of transferable skills. Andreas Schleicher of the OECD, responsible for the influential Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), notes that:

“Educational success is no longer about reproducing content knowledge, but about extrapolating from what we know and applying that knowledge to novel situations. Education today is much more about ways of thinking which involve creative and critical approaches to problem solving and decision-making.5“

11. The Design Council believe it is important to look beyond mathematics and physics to ensure the capability of adopting different “ways of thinking” is safeguarded as part of the engineering skills base. Other organisations such as SEMTA, and EEF through their three-year employer skills survey (reporting back in November 2012), are best placed to respond to the specific skills needs in more detail.

Do employers in the engineering sector prefer an academic or a vocational profile?

12. The range of job roles in the engineering sector is wide-ranging and diverse. Some require an academic profile (eg Chartered Engineer) some require a vocational profile (eg Technician)—but increasingly the sector requires a combination of both. The nature of engineering, and specifically engineering design, means students need a combination of science and arts aptitudes, both academic and practical.

13. Design & Technology is the only subject in the curriculum that proactively supports the development of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship—providing a pivotal connection between art and science, and producing the rounded learner with the ability to challenge existing “ways of thinking”. This is because of its focus on the practical as well as the theoretical, which requires intelligent thinking alongside intelligent making.

In a recent OECD blog post Charles Fadel—Founder & chairman of the Center for Curriculum Redesign and Vice Chair of the OECD Education Committee—states:

“There is a profound need to rethink the significance and applicability of what is taught, and to strike a far better balance between the conceptual and the practical.”6

14. In particular we need to develop our capacity to innovate. As Dr David Grant, Vice President of The Royal Academy of Engineering states in its recent report—Educating engineers to drive the innovation economy:

“We believe the best way for the UK to achieve this long-term financial prosperity is to increase our capability and capacity for innovation. The UK remains home to some of the very best designers and engineers in the world, but an incomplete understanding or application of innovation processes means that many of their good ideas will go no further than the drawing board or the computer screen.”7

15. The Design Council’s Innovate for Universities8 programme, recommended in the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills’ Innovation & Research Strategy for Growth, shows how the design process can be used to turn research and ideas into commercial propositions. Educational pathways that cater to this need should be developed. The programme taught Technology Transfer Managers a number of things including:

Using design methods to solve problems.

Taking a user-centred approach to technology development.

Finding new markets and applications for technologies.

Managing design projects to develop products, communications and brands.

Developing products, communications and brands.

What impact will recent changes relating to engineering qualifications in England have on the uptake of technical subjects and the skills base needed by the engineering sector?

16. Recent significant changes include: the introduction of the English Baccalaureate, University Technical Colleges and Studio Schools; downgrading of vocational qualifications; and the potential removal of Design & Technology from the Secondary National Curriculum.

17. There is a significant risk in syphoning off and separating out what are perceived to be purely academic (EBacc) from what are perceived purely practical (UTC) approaches through the systems and structures that inform the way we teach and learn. There is almost universal agreement from industry, academia and government that a broad and balanced curriculum—till at least aged 16—is crucial to developing the future workforce. However, due to geographical location, as few as 1% of students will have access to the new University Technical Colleges. This lack of equal access and the push for early specialisation will also impact on the diversity of the workforce, particularly if D&T is no longer formally part of the Secondary National Curriculum and no longer an entitlement that provides an inspiring pathway for a range of different types of learners to pursue a career in engineering.

18. The EBacc provides little space for students to take additional subjects beyond a prescribed core. The Design Council endorses the view taken by the Design Commission, the Henley Review of Cultural Education and the Creative Industries Council (Skills Group) that an additional “creative” subject, such as D&T or Art & Design, should form part of the performance measure the EBacc is aligned too.

19. The current threat to the place of Design & Technology in the National Curriculum could potentially cause most harm. Design & Technology should remain a National Curriculum foundation subject from 5 to 14 with updated, streamlined programmes of study for key stages 1, 2 and 3 based on a coherent body of knowledge—both technical and conceptual. This must build on the Design and Technology that children will experience as a statutory part of the new Early Years Foundation Stage framework from September 2012.

20. The UK was the first country to introduce Design and Technology in the National Curriculum for all pupils from five to 16 (subsequently reduced to 14), this helped to secure our position as a leading design nation, and other countries strive to emulate practice in our primary and secondary schools and look to us for leadership. It is vital that we maintain this lead internationally by ensuring that children continue to be taught knowledge and skills in Design and Technology progressively, starting in primary and continuing into secondary.

Could the Government and others do more to raise the status of technical subjects?

21. The Government should do more to promote multidisciplinary approaches such as the Design Council’s Design Challenges for Schools9 model which relates technical skills to academic skills and links them to real life issues—an approach that resonates with students and parents alike. The Government needs to provide organisations delivering this type of learning an access point into schools. Through non-statutory guidance to schools the Government should promote the work of organisations that highlight the different range of engineering careers available (beyond traditional blue collar roles) such as Creative & Cultural Skills soon to launch “Get into Design” website and accompanying careers guidance programme which delivers live career experiences. The Government should provide additional promotion and support for these events to enable parents and teachers, as well as young people, to take part in the opportunities.

What more could be done to attract and retain a more diverse technically skilled workforce?

22. We have taken this question to cover two potential areas of diversity—gender/race/age/background and skills within the workforce.

23. The key issue in terms of diversity of the workforce is the minority of women represented in the engineering sector. Through our Design Challenges for Schools programme we promoted STEM subjects through design-led projects that tackled big issues in a local context, such as reducing our environmental impact or enhancing quality of life for older adults. This approach engaged a significantly higher proportion of girls than these same schools do through their STEM clubs. (See paragraph 12 above for further suggestions/issues with diversity.)

24. Ensuring a diversity of skills within the workforce requires a similar approach. By recruiting a more diverse intake a more diverse set of skills emerge within the workforce. It is however important to recognize the value different skill-sets, beyond the traditional technical skills, offer to the engineering sector.

25. Kick-started as a result of the Cox Review recommendation for Centres of Excellence, and with Design Council support, Imperial College and Royal College of Art came together in 2007 to create Design London. As well as introducing MBA students to design thinking and design approaches, Design London selects MEng and postgraduate students from the Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London and students, Research Associates and recent graduates from the Royal College of Art through its Fellowship scheme. Design London delivers teaching programmes to MBA, MEng, MSc, PhD and MA students in both institutions. Central to this is the provision of design-led innovation modules on four MBA courses at Imperial Business School under the heading of Innovation Design Engineering (IDE).

26. We commend this approach as one way forward in providing an interdisciplinary experience. The IDE programme is a leading-edge, creative product development course that involves experimentation, design, engineering and enterprise activities. In multidisciplinary teams or as individuals, participants work at the centre of complex, demanding projects with an emphasis on prototyping and proving propositions. The programme requires that a wide range of design skills and thinking are utilised (industrial design techniques, manufacturing, mechanical engineering, design research, user-centred design and sustainability, among others). It is external facing and encourages all to tackle important real-world issues involving advanced technical, design and social parameters. This approach is the future for our engineering sector and this is the skills base we need to prepare for.

June 2012

Appendix A

New fundamental principles for Design & Technology

To develop a design literate society by:

Enabling children and young people to be critical consumers, users, commissioners and creators of design.

Helping them attain an understanding of the world through promotion of critiquing skills and knowledge of the key contexts for design (for example, socio-cultural, historical, economic, technological, environmental, health, emotional and industrial).

Demonstrating how all fields can benefit from using and being knowledgeable about design.

To build design and technology capability in its own right and to act as a bridge between arts, science, and business by:

Enabling children and young people to be creative, innovative and entrepreneurial.

Establishing a link to the arts through exploration and iteration of creative ideas and aesthetic appreciation applied for a purpose.

Establishing a link to science by turning new and existing knowledge into innovative products, services and commercial opportunities.

Establishing a link to business through the application of skills used in professional design practice such as team work, user-research, pitching, project management, financial management and marketing—in the classroom.

Delivering learning through multi-disciplinary design-led projects.

To place human-centred-design approaches, methodologies and processes at the heart of learning by:

Enabling children and young people to develop skills of ethnography, observation, envisioning, empathy, analytical thinking, co-design, usability testing.

Understanding the role of sustainability and ethics in human centred-design.

Empowering young people to be active citizens and agents of change for social as well as economic growth, which provides insight and understanding of the role of design in improving quality of life.

To focus on technical skills which relate to design processes in three-dimensional, digital and visual communication of information and ideas by:

Developing knowledge of the emergent and current means of production, manufacturing and digital technologies.

Developing skills that enable learners to translate their ideas into material form. For example: early stage proto-typing, key facets of interaction design and drawing for design.

To embed design and technology within an academic and cultural framework by:

Establishing a relationship between theoretical approaches taught within design at Higher Education level and classroom practice to provide rigour and support progression.

Grounding an understanding of contemporary design and technology within our domestic design heritage, historical and international design practice.

Using museum design collections and exhibitions as a key resource.

To forge strong links with industry and the cultural sector to inspire future designers, engineers, technologists and manufacturers; and introduce cutting-edge practice to the classroom by:

Bringing professionals into the classroom.

Developing knowledge and insight of new genres, practices and careers in design (eg service design, behavioural economics, bio-mimicry).

Delivering learning through case studies and live briefs related to a real world context.

These principles are endorsed by the following bodies:

Council for Higher Education in Art & Design.

Creative & Cultural Skills.

Creative Industries Council Skills Group.

D&AD.

Design Business Association.

Design Council.

Design & Technology Association.

Design Commission.

Design Museum.

Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.

Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.

Victoria & Albert Museum.

Currently under review by:

Royal Academy of Engineering.

EEF.

E4E.